Penny Mackieson On: AFL & LGBTI

‘AFL’ is the acronym for ‘Australian Football League’. ‘LGBTI’ is the acronym for ‘Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex’ people. AFL plus LGBTI equals…?

There has been much discussion in recent years regarding whether or not the AFL, as the leading football competition in the nation, should also lead the way with inclusivity regarding LGBTI people and anti-homophobic measures.

Arguments in favour of the AFL doing so include that: it has set a number of precedents with its championing of Indigenous players, multi-culturalism, and anti-racial discrimination and anti-doping measures; based on the incidence in the general population there are probably at least 12-32 players (of the collective 792 on the 18 AFL club lists) who are gay and the AFL should overtly support those players; Victorian footballer, Jason Ball, came out in 2012 with considerable support from the AFL community; and it would take only one current AFL player who is gay to come out – with the considerable support of the AFL community – for the steam to be let out of the pressure cooker of unnecessary and unhelpful conjecture and gossip, thus allowing everyone to move on. After all, look what happened when former Australian swimming champion and world record breaker, Ian Thorpe, came out recently – nothing much, aside from everyone expressing their relief that Thorpey had finally realised it and/or found the courage to acknowledge it publicly. Australians did not fall down dead in the streets from shock; Australian sport did not cease never to resume; and current Australian swimmers did not suddenly ‘turn gay’.

Arguments against the AFL leading the LGBTI charge include that: the AFL cannot be all things to all people and should not be expected to be; no former VFL/AFL player has ever come out publicly; it appears there is no gay current AFL player who is prepared to identify publicly as such; and, in any event, it is questionable whether the AFL community is ready for such a campaign given Australia has not yet embraced same-sex marriage.

For example, take the responses of Australian media figures to Channel 7 football commentator Brian Taylor’s recent disparaging “big poofter” comment regarding Geelong Football Club’s Harry Taylor. Many observers have already noted that subsequent comments made by other sports commentators and media hosts were inadequate, disappointing and reflected that homophobia is part of the accepted culture of AFL circles. Just yesterday (01 August 2014) it was reported in The Age that another homophobic slur (“faggots”) has since been posted on Facebook by Greg Evangelou, one of Port Adelaide Football Club’s corporate sponsors. To the AFL’s credit it offered counselling to Evangelou with Jason Ball – now a prominent anti-homophobia activist. However, to the AFL’s shame it did not insist that Evangelou take up the counselling; and to Port Adelaide’s shame it did not subsequently sever ties with Evangelou.

From my perspective as a feminist, I would argue that the AFL should be pushed on this issue, otherwise the Australian football community may never consider itself ‘ready’. For example, women – technically not a minority and, certainly, a very visible group in the community – have been integral to the success of Australian football since the game was first developed in the mid-1800s, consistently comprising about half of all football crowds in addition to their extensive involvement in their own partner’s/children’s football competitions and as consumers of AFL products, etc. Yet there have been, and continue to be, precious few women formally employed in AFL roles, let alone significant/leadership ones. Further, as a passionate female football supporter, I know first-hand from numerous experiences over the years that the AFL and its constituent clubs do not consistently know whether, let alone how, to market themselves to women, with women often referred to as ‘ladies’ or, worse, ‘the ladies’. Even the female partners of AFL players continue to be condescendingly referred to as WAGs (‘wives and girlfriends’) and encouraged to parade like vacuous Barbie dolls on the red carpet on Brownlow Medal (AFL best and fairest player award) night.

All this, despite that the AFL has had a designated ‘Women’s Round’ for many years now; as part of Women’s Round the AFL has hosted a women’s football match (Melbourne versus the Western Bulldogs) in consecutive seasons, 2013 and 2014; and women’s Australian Rules football competitions are currently the fastest growing sporting competitions in Australia. AFL data reported in The Age today (02 August 2014) indicates that “169,000 females participated in the game nationally in 2013 – a huge jump from 57,000 in 2011.”

On a brighter note, I heartily commend the establishment of the Purple Bombers, “a new membership for gay and lesbian fans” of the Essendon Football Club to be available from 2015 (as also reported in The Age on 01 August 2014). Maybe this development will inspire the AFL to take on more of a leadership role in regard to this sensitive matter. However, judging by the level of sexism that persists in the AFL community, I won’t be holding my breath that eventual achievement of an AFL-sanctioned pride round equals genuine embrace of LGBTI supporters and players.

Penny Mackieson On: Equalisation in the AFL

The Australian Football League (AFL) oversees the most popular and lucrative sporting competition in Australia, and that’s no mean feat in this sports-crazed country. Yet the AFL knows that to continue its dominance over the other football codes – soccer, rugby league and rugby union – it must ensure the ongoing viability of each of its 18 constituent clubs. There are a variety of means by which this may be achieved and the AFL has been devoting considerable time and effort to exploring the off-field options, including a fact finding tour in the United States. The primary focus has been on the financial elements – how to maximise club memberships and sponsorships; whether to cap football department spending by clubs (similar to the salary cap for players which has long been in place); how to maximise gate takings from attendances at matches and ensure a fair distribution of the profits to the clubs; how to balance maximisation of profits from sale of the match broadcasting rights with match fixtures that facilitate strong spectator attendances and fair allocation of the profits and preferred broadcast times among the clubs…

It all sounds very complex and it is, especially when also taking into account the vested interests and inordinate power of the larger – and, by definition, more financially successful – AFL clubs, which have already indicated their determination to hang on to their wealth, rather than commit to financial redistribution measures.

Frankly, I think the AFL is on the wrong track. To my mind the best way to facilitate equalisation is on the football field, rather than off it.

Australian rules football has evolved from a simple game with only 10 rules when first conceived in 1859 by members of the Melbourne Football Club to a complex game with well over 100 rules and an AFL ‘Laws of the Game Committee’, which regularly adds new rules and disseminates videos at the beginning of each season in order to explain the key rules and the ‘interpretations’ of those rules expected to be made by the umpires. These days AFL umpires have to be almost superhuman. The pace of games has become so fast that the umpires run marathon distances in order to keep up with the play, as evidenced by the prevailing body type within the umpiring ranks – small and lean. In addition to pounding up and down the spacious fields, the umpires must simultaneously remain alert to potential infringement of any of the 100-plus rules of the game with every play of the ball and every exchange between the combined 36 players of the two opposing teams. Truly, the umpires also need to be multi-processing computers as well as elite distance athletes – in effect, sophisticated robots. But, of course, they are only human and the result is consistently inconsistent ‘interpretations’ of the rules, not just between seasons but between matches and between, and even within, quarters!

Again, it all sounds very complex and it is, especially when also taking into account that the AFL has (at least since May 2007 when the then head of its umpiring department, Jeff Gieschen, discussed the matter during a media interview), a ‘protected species’ list of star players, or ‘ball movers’, which it believes draws spectators to attend AFL games. In conjunction with this list, the AFL holds the philosophy that when play during a match slows down the umpires should adjudicate with a view to getting the ball into the hands of one of its identified star players. The AFL now, as would be expected, verbally denies such a thing, tantamount as it would be to admitting systemic bias in matches and institutionalised match-fixing.

I genuinely pity the umpires, not least because so many of us passionate football supporters can’t help but vent our frustrations on them in regard to their erratic decision-making. I’m not proud of my inability to contain my anger at times, though I do not blame the umpires personally and appreciate that they are doing the best they can in impossible circumstances.

The solution is, to me, a no-brainer. The AFL should ditch both its ‘protected species’ list and its philosophy of umpiring to get the ball into the hands of the players on that list; it should stop adding ever more rules to the game; it should encourage the umpires to blow the whistle each and every time they see an infringement of the rules, regardless of the rule or the player who commits the infringement.

In this way the apparently unintended on-field favouritism towards the already large and financially robust clubs, which have – by definition – more star players, will be eradicated. The umpiring will be simplified; as a consequence there should be more consistent adjudication of the rules of the game; and so supporters who have fallen away through frustration will return to the stands in greater numbers to enjoy the spectacle of a truly fair sporting contest each and every time our great AFL game is played. It might even widen the field of contenders for the Brownlow Medal, the AFL’s award for the fairest and best player each season voted upon by its umpires.